Today's Gospel - Monday, July 28, 2025 with commentary by Pope Francis

Audio provided by www.vaticannews.va/en #Gospel #GospeloftheDay #GospelofToday #GospelofLife #GospelofJuly2025 #GospelofJuly2025commentedbyPopeFrancis #PopeFrancis #VaticanNews #WordsofPopeFrancis Date: July 28, 2025 Monday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time Reading of the Day From the Book of Exodus Exodus 32:15-24, 30-34 In those days, Moses turned and came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hand, tablets written on both sides, on both sides. The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was God's writing, engraved on the tablets. Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting and said to Moses, "There is a noise of war in the camp." But Moses replied, "It is not the cry of those who sing, 'Victory!' It is not the cry of those who sing, 'Defeat!' I hear the cry of two choirs." When he approached the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Moses' anger burned, and he threw the tablets out of his hands and smashed them at the foot of the mountain. Then he took the calf they had made, burned it in the fire, ground it to powder, scattered the powder on the water, and made the Israelites drink it. Gospel of the Day From the Gospel according to Matthew Mt 13:31-35 At that time, Jesus put before the crowds another parable, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown, it is the largest of all plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches. He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and mixed with three measures of flour until it was all leavened." All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables; without parables he did not speak to them, so that what had been spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled: "I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world." The Words of the Popes The (...) parable uses the image of the mustard seed. Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it is full of life and grows until it becomes "the largest of all plants" (Mark 4:32). And so is the Kingdom of God: a humanly small and seemingly irrelevant reality. To become part of it, one must be poor in heart; not trust in one's own abilities, but in the power of God's love; not act to be important in the eyes of the world, but precious in the eyes of God, who favors the simple and humble. When we live this way, the power of Christ breaks through us and transforms what is small and modest into a reality that ferments the entire mass of the world and of history. (...) the Kingdom of God requires our collaboration, but it is above all the initiative and gift of the Lord. Our weak work, apparently small in the face of the complexity of the world's problems, if inserted into that of God, is not afraid of difficulties. The Lord's victory is certain: his love will make every seed of good present on earth sprout and grow. This opens us to trust and hope, despite the tragedies, injustices, and sufferings we encounter. The seed of goodness and peace sprouts and develops because it is made to mature by God's merciful love. (Angelus, June 14, 2015)